The new, 49-state investigation into foreclosure frauds comes as no surprise to people who follow the mortgage service business. Shoddy, deceptive paperwork has plagued homeowners for years. In the industry’s slimy underside, firms push borrowers into default and foreclosure, even when they’ve been making payments on time.
Their business model makes defaults profitable, [...]
What Jane Says: Savings & Debt
- Who pays for a foreclosure freeze? We the taxpayers do
- POSTED 10.9.10
Who do you think picks up the losses on the $500 billion worth of mortgages now in foreclosure or in serious default? The wicked lenders? Sorry, wrong. In more than half the cases, we the taxpayers pay.
Freezes on foreclosures, such as those in effect in at least a quarter of the states, [...]
- Mortgage tip: Sometimes it’s smarter not to pay
- POSTED 10.8.10
Pssst – here’s a quick personal finance tip for financially troubled people who have a first mortgage plus a home equity loan. If you can’t make the payments on the first debt, don’t pay the second one, either — even if you can afford to. Payments on the second lien are money down the drain.
That [...]
- Buyer beware, if the Senate exempts auto dealers from any new consumer protection rules
- POSTED 05.17.10
Auto dealers are swarming Capitol Hill, asking their Senators to exempt them from scrutiny by the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. They’ve already won an exemption from the House of Representatives. If the Senate gives them a free pass, too, it will hurt consumers, turn a blind eye to predatory practices, and violate the principle [...]
- Automatic savings: the only magic in personal finance
- POSTED 11.8.09
I probably shouldn’t admit it, but I’ve always been bad about saving money whenever willpower was involved. You have my total admiration if you can actually “pay yourself first” by writing a check to your savings account every time a paycheck comes in. I’ve tried it and failed. Some months, that check got written. Some [...]
